Burial vault



Jan. 8, 1935. J. D. RENSHLER BURIAL VAULT Filed July 19, 1932 JR fie' mer Patented Jan. 8, 1935 iii. I'UN' I TED: STATES PATENT OFF-ICE a v 1,987,026, g'

I i BURIAL VAIJiIlT John D. Renshlen Findlay, Ohio 7 Application July 19, 1932, "SerialNr623A15 g 5 Claims. (01. 27-35),

This invention relates tormetallic vaults which are formed to provide a base and a hollow, transversely-arched cover or body and particularly to a structure-of this kind in'which the body is hinged tothe base. Vaults of this general char acter as ordinarily used and on the market do not have the cover hinged to the base but' the cover ls-lifted above th'ebase when the casket is put on the bas'e and then the cover is lowered until the'usual locks on the base and coverlock the cover to the base. Ordinarily at funerals, the -base isdisposed Within/the grave at the bottom thereof and the casket is lowered on to the .base and then'either the-mournerswait until the cover is lowered downward through the,

handle, is likely to scrape dirtfrom the sides of the grave opening which rattles down on to the casket and after the .cover is in place, an undertakersa'ssistantanust get into the grave order tollock. the cover or. adjust zitgso that the selflocking'bolts will engage;- If the mourners leave thefuneralceremony before the cover is in place, theydo not see the cover-of the vault or that it isudisposed'in place over the base and casket and it leaves them'with the unpleasant suggestion that no cover has been usedthat the earth has .h'een-.merel-ysthrown .down over, the casket and at any rate, they do not see everything they have paidfor; a

As above remarked,;practically all the vaults ontthe market have covers which must be lowered bodily on toqthe base after ,thecasket has been put in place. Assuming-that the base is raised to the .level of, the-ground around the grave and the casket is to be put in place thereon, another dimeultyarisesthat the pall-bearers must carry :theeasketintoa position over the base which is supported at the :level of the ground and that thesespall-hearersmust passon each side of the open :grave. :many cases, there is not room for the ipalleb'earers to do'this because ,of the bank of. earth on oneiside-of the grave and possibly a'very narrow strip .of s'ward on the other side 0! the :grave and in most .cases. the p'all-bearers in carrying the casket will have towalk so close to the edge ofthe grave that there is great liaability -.of the walls of the grave crumbling .or breaking inward, particularly in wet weather. causesthe pail-bearers toattempt to stretch their-arms out and :at the same time exert sufficient strength to support the casket which places great strain onthe-pall bearers and makes itlikely. that the casket maybe droppedvor the pall-bearerstumble. In order toavoid these very objectionable features andlprovide a vault which will Ii'eliminate these difiic'ulties, my invention contemplates a vaultin which the'ccver is hinged at one end'to one end .of the base so that the :base may be disposed upon theusual lowering mechanism atlthe level of the 'grave mouth and the icofiin'may beslidendwise von tolthe base and into position. beneath the lid, the pall-bearers carrying the casket until one endrestsuponthe base, the first pair of pall-bearers stepping-to .one .side, the casket being then further I shifted on the base, the second pairayof pall-b earersstepping to one side, the, thirdipair'of pall bearers slidingthe casket furtheronto the base and then the under-takers assistant .or others shifting the casket into it'slproperv position.

A further object of the invention is to'provide means whereby the cover .oflthe vault imay' be held raised until the casket'is' inplace a'nd then the cover gradually lowered without'theneces sity of the'undertaker or. hisaSsistantS-eXerting strength to prevent thetfallingzorrthe relatively gheavy cover upon the base and'in this connecf' tion to provide hinged bracesjhaving frictional means for resisting'turning "movement of the braces at the point ofpivotal connection so that the cover, may be easily and gently lowered. into place without any fall or jar, "it being, of course,

understood that suitable locking devices are pro-v vided for locking the vault cover to the vault base when thevault cover is fully lowered.-

.A further objectisgto provide hinges for connecting one end of the cover 'to one'ehdof the base, which, hinges .practically'fo'rman integral part of the vault-cover and base by beingwelded thereto, the hinges having-such form as to permit the weldingloperationto beperform'ed'witha minimum .oftrouble.

Other objects will appear in the course orthe following description.

' My invention is illustrated in' the accompany- 1 ing drawing, wherein:-'- I, l 7 I u Figure 1 is a perspective view of a metallic vault with the cover raised, the casket being shown in dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional View through the hinged ends of the vault cover and base or pan;

Figure 3,is a fragmentary perspective view of theihinged connection between the base and-vau'lt cover; TIT y Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the braces at the joint thereof; Figure 5 is a section on the line 55 of Figure 4.

Referring to the drawing, designates the usual base or pan which is formed with a rectangular upwardly extending hollow portion 11 and permitting it to slide readily into place. The;

vault cover 14 may have any usual or suitable shape. This vault cover is provided with opposite end walls and opposite side walls,-the lower mar gins of the side and end walls being angularly extended downward and outward as at--15? 'The lower edge of this skirt 15 rests uponthe flange 12 as shown in Figure 2 when the vault cover is closed. The cover'may beprovided with the usual handles 16, but it is to be understood that the-particular construction or design of the cover has nothing to do with the present invention... 1

The cover 14 is hinged to the base 10 as shown in Figure 2. Thishinge, it is reiterated,,.is dis;-

posed at one end of the'base and at one-end? of the vault. As illustrated, the hingeconsists of a plurality of hinge? element 16 in .the form of. flat plates, each having a bead 17 at its .lower end and a series of hinge elements'l8,each angularly bent so as-to provide anupstanding endportion19 andat its opposite end being formed with the bead 20.

.As illustrated in Figure 2,,the' hinge plates 16 extend upwardlyv against the inner face of the downwardly flaringskirt 15. The hinge elements 18 extend along the upper face of the flange 12 with the portions 19 extending upward against the vertical wall of. the raised central portion 11. The plate 16 and the plates 18 are preferably weldedinplace. 'This is readily accomplished by first welding the plate 16 to the skirt 15, then placing the vault cover on the base with the elements .18 disposedsup'on the skirt and the portions 19 thereof disposed against the wall of the part 11 and then spot-welding these parts 18 and19 .to-the flange 12 and the upwardly extending central portion; the welder working from the outside 6 from the exterior of the vault. The skirt'15'fits idown tightly against the flange 12 but will permit a movement of the vault cover from its closed position to a position where the vault cover is sufficiently raised to permit the insertionoffthe casket. f V .1

For the purpose of holding the vaultcover in this raised. position until it is desired to lower it, I have provided braces on each side of the vault cover eachbrace consisting of two brace members 22 and 23. The brace .members 23 are pivoted to'the base in an obvious manner while the members 22 are pivoted. to the cover.

The braces break rearward and the brace elements are pivoted to each other. by a pivot bolt 24 having the wing nut 25.. The adjacent ends of .the brace elements 22 and 23 are relatively wide-faced and bytightening up upon the nut 25 any desired frictional engagement may be secured between the contacting faces of these brace elements. Preferably, the brace element 22 isarcuately slotted asat 26 and a rivet or otherstop 27 extends from the element 22 through this slot. This prevents the forward movement of the connected ends of the brace elements but permits the brace elements, to be folded rearward until the vault is lowered. I

=While I have illustrated thebrace elements 23 as exteriorly pivoted at 28,;td thej'ibfiisbfili-"do not wish to be limited to this. By providing this frictional engagement between the brace ele- ,ments, the vault cover may be supported in its raised position until the casket has been inserted, :thenaslight downward pressure on the free end of the vault cover will cause the braces to fold upon each'other; and the frictional engagement betweenthese braces is such that the vault cover will be almost fully supported while the cover is being 1owered,=;thus permitting the. coyento fbe lowered gently andnoiselessly. y; z ,1; The vault cover is-locked inplace preferably by locking means suchas; that disclosedyinBatent No. 1,-862;064, granted on the-l 7thday ,of,,.June, 1932.v 1 .It will be seen that. withthis.v construction the pallebearers do not havegto walk. on fiachside of the gravewith the liabilityf of causing;the;.grav e to cave in and with the'difliculties attendant to attempting tosupport the" heavy casket.=under .the grave.

These vault covers then, .by

"undertakers assistants 1 and. carried :Zover to and placed upon the base orxloweredidownonto.;the base if the base beslowered into the bottomof the grave and this is 'difflcultmandsrequireszservices of several assistants,;.requires greatcare' in order to get the cover --properly disposed upon the-base, the grassbeside the grave is. trampledz and there is liability, as. there is. in: the rcaselof ipall-zbearers, of the grave giving infunder the weight :of, the men carrying the vaultcover and puttingzjit. in. place. This difliculty isentirelydone away with by hinging the cover to thebase as the coveryan'd base are simply placed in position-upon the lowering device prior to the. funeral andthe casket slid gently into position :without trampling of the grass around the grave/.andrthe cover then lowered into placeand: locked-rafter which the base with the enclosed casket and the closed cover may be "lowered into" place;

only for the reasons 'heretofore statedtha't: it permits the casket to be -s'lid endwise...on to the base making it much moreureadily handled by the pall-bearers but because if the cover .were hinged to the side oi the base andtumedtupward, "it would beimpossible for onezjsetdwell-bearers 'to handle one side of the casket.-'-The pan-bearers would have to carry the 'casket,'under.fthesexcir.-

cumstances, into a, position: parallel .to. the side of the base, then two men would have I? togshift the casket laterally into "position on .to the base which would be very difiicult'to-do: vThis-Iiaen- The hinging of the cover atone end is important: not

The casketis 'easilyandqu'ietly slipped-into place and when in place, the cover is gently lowered and automatically locked. The family thus know that the burial is fully completed and know that the vault is completely locked and water and airtight.

I claim:-

1. A burial vault including a metallic base and a metallic, transversely arched cover, the cover and base being elongated in one direction to provide relatively narrow end portions and relatively long side portions, the cover being hinged at one end to one end of the base, and means acting to support the cover in its raised position and frictionally resist downward movement of the cover. 2. A burial vault including a base of sheet metal having'a centrallyraised casket supporting portion and a base flange, a metallic cover having top, side and end walls, the end walls being narrow relative to the side walls, the lower margins of the end walls being outwardly flared, and a hinge element secured to the flange at one end of the base and to the outwardly flaring portion of the like end of the cover.

3. A burial vault comprising a base of sheet metal having a central raised casket supporting portion and an outstanding base flange and a metallic cover having top, side and end walls, the end walls being narrow relative to the side walls, one of the end walls being downwardly and outwardly flared, and hinge elements pivotally connected to each other, certain of the hinge elements being welded to the downwardly flaring end portion of the cover, the other hinge elements being welded to the flange at one end of the base.

4. A burial vault comprising a base of sheet.

metal having a central raised casket supporting portion and a base flange, a cover having top,

side and end walls, and fitting over the base, one of the end walls being downwardly and outwardly flared, flat hinge plates welded to the inner face of the flared portion of said end wall, angular hinge plates hingedly connected to the first named set of plates and welded to the base flange of the base and against the side wall of the raised portion of said base. i

5. A burial vault including a metallic base and a metallic, transversely arched cover, the cover being hinged at one end to one end of the base whereby the cover may be lifted up at one end to receive the casket, and braces engaging with the cover and base, the braces being formed of two sections, the sections overlapping at their junction, a bolt pivoting the sections to each other and having a nut whereby the frictional engagement between the sections maybe increased or decreased, and means limiting the movement of the sections relative to each other in one direction. I JOHN D. RENSHLER. 

